Tag Archives: running injury

Arch pain when running is normally a symptom of a heel running injury. It could be a heel spur or a plantar fasciitis. To know which is which you will need to get a feel of your arch.

Cause of Arch Pain When running

The cause of the arch pain is because of heel injury which is a common running injury. It is common because your heel is usually at the receiving end of all running impact. It is said the weight on the foot and heel when landing is four times your body weight.

Diagnosing Heel Injury

Heel Spurs – The pain is felt at the front part of your heel, where the arch and the heel meet.

Plantar Fasciitis – The pain is felt at the center of the heel. To diagnose plantr fasciitis press really hard with your thumb on the center of the heel. If the pain is felt at the center, it is indeed plantar fasciitis.

Heel injury picture : Heel injury photo

Treatment of Arch pain from running injury.

The first thing to do is stop running and take a rest. Apply ice at least 72 hours after running activity. Try heel stretching exercises, they will help to relieve the inflammation. Apply anti inflammation cream. If the pain is too much, you can’t walk or stand see your Doctor.

Plantar fasciitis is irritation and swelling of the thick tissue on the bottom of the foot.It is a common running injury. Symptoms of Plantar fasciitis, the most common complaint is pain in the bottom of the heel.

Plantar Fasciitis Physical Therapy Exercises

Physical therapy is part of treatment for Plantar fasciitis.

In the following video we show demonstration of effective Plantar Fasciitis exercises that will speeds up healing. The exercises can be used as part of your physical therapy treatment.

Heel pain when running is a common running injury, especially common with runners who run down hills.

Cause of Heel Pain injury

Heel injury happens when running down hills. When running down hill the foot lands on the heel. This makes the heel to come under extreme pressure and stress. When stress is too much the heel eventually suffers a painful injury. It could be a stress fracture or other tissue injury.

Another cause of heel pain injury is running on over used running shoes. When the sole of the shoe is worn out, the heel gets less support. The lesser the support the higher the risk of heel injury and other foot injuries.

Treatment of Heel Pain Injury

Mild heel injury can heal on their own. The first line of treatment is to stop running and rest the heel. The heel should be iced at least 78 hours after running.

Serious heel pain injury are best treated by a physician. In severe cases the heel may need to be supported with a bandage.

A pulled hamstring is a common running injury. A running hamstring injury is more common among sprinters than long distance runners.

Long distance runners are likely to suffer hamstring injury when doing their speed work.

Cause of Running hamstring Injury

Hamstring injury is another over user injury, i.e a running injury caused by doing too much, too soon or pushing beyond your limits. That is why it is common in sprinting, where runners are constantly trying to push beyond limits.

A pulled hamstring injury happens when one or more muscles that run along the back of your thigh gets stretched too far.

Treating Running Hamstring Injury.

Minor to moderate hamstring strains usually heal on their own. The recommended method of treatment is similar to any other soft tissue injury a HI-RICE (Hydration, Ibuprofen, Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) regimen lasting for at least 48 to 72 hours after the onset of pain. “Rest” includes such commonsense prescriptions as avoiding running or hiking. A complete break from running will give the hamstring time to heal.

In serious but rare cases where the hamstring muscle is torn, you may need surgery. The surgeon will repair the muscles and reattach them.

If you are experiencing pain around parts of your foot while running and when you touch and press the parts they feel sore, you are suffering from a stress fracture.

About Stress Fracture

What many runners report as a running foot injury is medically known as stress structure. Stress fractures are partial breaks or cracks in the bones around the foot.

Cause of running foot injury (stress fracture)

Stress fractures are caused by extreme stress to the bone. It could be caused by: –

Running too much (over training)

Running on rough, rocky surfaces

Running on a hard surface

Sudden switch from soft surface to hard surface.

Treatment of Running Foot Injury ( Stress Fracture)

Stress fractures usually heal on their own. The best treatment is taking a complete REST from running. Although most website say you should take six weeks break from running, I think you should give your foot as much rest as necessary to heal.

When you feel you are ready to return to running, get back slowly. start running on soft surfaces (grass) before running on hard surface.

If the pain is chronic, the foot is swollen and the pain is not going away, see a sports-oriented doctor for a bone scan.

Now there is growing evidence barefoot running is causing injuries, from aching heels, ankles and top of the foot. Doctors are reporting seeing a rise in barefoot running injuries.

Steve Pribut, a Washington, DC podiatrist and one of America’s most respected running injury specialists, says he has experienced a recent influx of barefoot runners at his office as well. And, asked by email whether he could confirm a barefoot running injury trend in his clinical experience, Lewis Maharam, a.k.a “Running Doc,” replied with two words: “Oh, yeah!”

I just have had the opportunity to meet up with 3 ‘barefoot runners’. Only one of them is still doing some drills barefoot; the other two were disillusioned because of the injuries. One with stress fractures from his Vibrams; and the other could not shake “Top of Foot Pain” – it was not until he went back to his running shoes would it go away, only to return again when he tried to transition.

It was the nature of the “Top of Foot Pain” in barefoot running that intrigued me, so I did some looking up and it is commonly reported by barefoot runners.

There is a link between a runners knee pain and weak knees. In an article in runners world magazine two runners who suffered chronic knee pain recovered after they were put on a program of hip strengthening exercises.

Reed Ferber Hip Strengthening Exercise.

The article has a program demonstration by Reed Ferber, Ph. D., director of the University of Calgary’s Running Injury Clinic. He recommends doing them daily after you run. Start with one set of 10 reps and gradually increase sets so that you’re doing three sets of 10 by your fourth day. You should see improvement in two weeks. If you don’t, Ferber says to see a doctor because the cause of your injury may lie elsewhere.